


The Language of Flowers

by oh_wowww



Category: La casa de papel | Money Heist (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, F/M, Florist!Raquel, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Multi, Pining, Romance, Slow Burn, Smut, TattooArtist!Sergio
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:47:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26694754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oh_wowww/pseuds/oh_wowww
Summary: Raquel never expected that she would meet the love of her life when she enters his tattoo shop one day.
Relationships: Berlin | Andrés de Fonollosa/Palermo | Martín Berrote, Denver | Daniel Ramos/Mónica Gaztambide, Nairobi | Ágata Jiménez/Alicia Sierra, Raquel Murillo/Professor | Sergio Marquina
Comments: 100
Kudos: 147





	1. Peonies

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! It's my first multi-chapter fic. I came upon this prompt which said that imagine your otp in a flower shop-tattoo parlor pairing and then switch it. Here is the result of that prompt haha. I hope you enjoy. Let me know if you liked it :) I don't care if you don't hahahaha

Martín was busy on his laptop rearranging the tattoo studio’s busy schedule. He worked as the receptionist for the past three years at Resistencia, the tattoo studio his boyfriend’s brother owned. Although one might think that being a receptionist was an easy job, Martín would argue that it was one of the hardest. His interpersonal skills were great, which was a relief to Sergio, the tattoo studio owner, because he wasn’t good at entertaining people. Martín has a way of wooing and swaying people that was beneficial to the studio because it provided them clients, and Sergio couldn’t complain if business was doing good.

What Martín didn’t anticipate though, was managing the studio. He was entirely responsible for who tattoos who, who and when an artist is available, and if they are running out of supplies. Thankfully, Sergio was patient enough to teach him the ropes. It took some time but Martín was a fast-learner and now they’re running one of the most successful tattoo studios in the heart of Madrid. Managing Andres, Alicia, Marseille, and Sergio was a handful but he was happy with his job, albeit the stress that it brings him when their schedules don’t line up.

That’s why he is so engrossed in his laptop, trying to find the button on Resistencia’s synced calendar app, that he didn’t hear the chimes and almost missed greeting the person at the door.

He looks up and sees a woman in her mid-30s, wearing an emerald green knitted sweater that compliments her light brown hair and red lips. He automatically finds her intriguing because of her nose piercing and her kind wide eyes. It doesn’t escape his attention that she’s clutching her purse so tightly. It would be a shame if her nails left marks on what seems to be genuine leather.

“Buenos dias, what can I do for you?” He offers her a smile.

“Do you accept walk-ins?” She nervously asks. She clears her throat before clarifying, “For tattoos, I mean. I want to get a tattoo.”

“Do you have a sketch of your tattoo? I would like to match you with the person best-suited to ink you, which depends on your vision for your tattoo.” He replies.

“Oh, wait a sec, I know I have it in here.” She starts rummaging through her purse and pulls out what looks like a crumpled receipt with a drawing on the back of it.

“I’m Martín, by the way.” He offers his hand to her. “I manage the studio.”

“Nice to meet you, Martín. I’m Raquel.” She shakes his hand, already feeling more at ease. Martín had an aura of comfort to him, which did wonders to soothe Raquel’s nerves. She was always intimidated by tattoo shops ever since she drunkenly got a piercing on her nose and Agata got a tramp stamp at the same drunken night when she was younger, but she was older now, and ever since she broke up with Alberto a year ago, she wanted to explore her options, including getting nipple piercings and now, a tattoo.

“The pleasure is mine. Now, let’s see that sketch.” He leans over the reception counter as Raquel slides the paper towards him. It was a drawing of a flower. She studies Martín’s face as he analyzes the drawing. She felt the bile on her stomach rise from her nervousness, afraid that this kind man might judge her for her drawing. She wasn’t a visual artist but she knew what she drew looked like a flower.

But then again, she thinks, Martín works for a tattoo shop. Certainly he’s seen worse things people wanted tattooed on them, right? Her nose twitches as she cringes at the thought of couples having their names tattooed on each other and then breaking up a year later. 

“Well, for these types of tattoos, I would say Sergio would be the perfect one to tattoo this on you. He has the steadiest hand and his attention to detail is what clients go to him for. Unfortunately, he’s booked for the next eight mo—“ The phone on the reception desk rings just as Martín was about to finish his sentence. He offers an apologetic smile to Raquel because their conversation was cut short.

“A moment, querida.”

Martín picks up the phone and starts the conversation with a pleasant tone. Raquel looks around at the reception area of the tattoo studio. She was surprised that it didn’t intimidate her at all. It has a fairly pleasant design to it, having white walls and mid-century modern furniture. The Eames Chair on the side adds to the simplicity and functionality of the space. The tattoo studio looked clean and it added to her growing sense of trust in the people that ran this place. She might have to ask the owner where they got the red stainless steel lamp because she wanted a silver one for her office.

Raquel was knocked out of her thoughts when she heard Martín’s pointed tone piercing her ears.

“Sir, this is the third time you’ve rescheduled, and no, we don’t do refunds of reservation fees! You should learn to respect other people’s time! Que tengas un buen día!” Martín slams the phone down and breathes heavily. “Fucking dumbasses can’t make up their minds for shit, wasting our time!” He whispers loudly, and suddenly the air inside the studio becomes infiltrated with the disrespectful client’s bad energy, but thankfully Martín is good at mediating his emotions. He sighs and smiles at Raquel, his face clearly depicting a look of _look-at-the-putas-I-deal-with-everyday_ look.

Raquel looks up with wide eyes, stunned at Martín’s outburst. She opens her mouth to alleviate the growing tension in the room when Martín says,

“Pues, señorita, today is your lucky day. I’m going to go get Sergio.” He points at the direction of the hallway which, Raquel presumes, leads to the artists’ individual cubicles. “You stay right there, I’ll be right back!” He says with a forced smile, still pressed at the altercation on the phone call a while ago.

He goes on his way, and Raquel is sure that she hears him mutter “I love my job, I love my job, I love my job” on repeat as he stomps towards this _Sergio_.

_Who even is this Sergio?_

Is he really that magnificent as Martín claims him to be? Or is Martín just exaggerating just for her to give in and give them money? Oh god, what if he ruins her tattoo and the line comes out too thick or uneven? What was she even thinking, getting a tattoo as a spur of the moment decision? Well, it wasn’t really a spur of the moment decision.

A year ago, when she suggested to her then-boyfriend Alberto that she wanted to get a tattoo, he mocked her and looked at her in disgust, saying that women with tattoos are despicable. She looked at him with horror because it was then that she realized that she was coerced into taking out her nose piercing, and any sense of individuality, for the years that they had been together because of Alberto’s manipulative words.

_Darling, you look so much prettier without that metal thing on your nose._

_Can you take your piercing out please, cariño? It scratches my nose when we kiss and I love kissing you._

_I love kissing you my ass_ , she thinks. She mentally pats herself on the back for having the strength and courage to break up with Alberto. When she realized that she let herself be manipulated like that for years, she immediately broke up with him the next day, took out all her savings and moved to Madrid. Thankfully, her childhood friends, Monica and Ágata were there to console her for being so stupid for falling into Alberto’s trap. She found out much later that he was cheating on her, and it affirmed her decision of breaking up with him, and never going back to him for good.

While on the way to Madrid to start her new life, she vowed to herself that 1. She will never let herself be manipulated by anybody, especially men who aren’t worth her time, 2. She will take complete control of her life and start a business and 3. She will get a piercing, or a tattoo to commemorate this day of liberation from toxic relationships. She has never looked back ever since, and it’s been a year since then. 

A month after settling in Madrid, she got her nipples pierced and used that drive to set up her flower shop, which, coincidentally, was opening across the street from Resistencia. She used the year to plan for running her own business, and she couldn’t be any more happier than achieving two of the three things she promised herself, in the span of a year.

 _I’m really doing this._ She thinks and smiles to herself as she waits for Martín and Sergio. 

Truth be told, she was apprehensive that a man would be tattooing her. Ever since Alberto, she unconsciously hid her body from people, especially men, for fear of reliving Alberto’s manipulative comments and getting herself into unhealthy relationships again. She is aware that her taste in men is horrible, and she is working on it by not entertaining the idea of romantic relationships in her life. So, she just sticks to window shopping on Bumble and Tinder during her spare time, preferring to just look and admire, and not act on her impulses.

Until her eyes land on who seems to be Sergio.

She can’t believe what she’s seeing. Is he real? Are her eyes failing her? Across her stands a man, taller than her by a foot, wearing a black shirt that accentuates his broad chest, a leather jacket that defines his shoulders, and jeans that turn Raquel’s thoughts sinful. If it makes matters worse, his beard is perfectly trimmed to frame his face and his hair just falls oh so perfectly on his head, and Raquel wonders what it must feel like to run her fingers across it. Their eyes meet and she swears that she could drown in those pools of dark chocolate eyes.

“Raquel, this is Sergio. Sergio, this is Raquel. He’ll be doing your tattoo.” Martín says with a smile, somewhat calmer now that the annoying client on the phone is long gone from his train of thought.

Her breath hitches at the thought that this man, this perfectly sculpted god, is going to tattoo her, and touch her while he’s at it. He offers her his hand to shake, and Raquel’s eyes land on it, and she feels a familiar tingling on her lower belly at the sight of his hands.

“Hola, I’m Sergio.” He smiles. She notices a dimple appear on his cheek and _oh god, she finds him so attractive._

Raquel extends her hand and the instant their hands meet, she knows her underwear is getting soaked. A million impure thoughts immediately cloud her mind and judgment. His hand feels smooth but strong at the same time. His firm grip as she shakes her hand doesn’t help stop her fantasies running wild inside her head. Mentally she was getting worked up by the feeling of his hands, but physically she looks up at him and smiles and introduces herself.

“Hi, I’m Raquel. Nice to meet you.” She says timidly and lets go of his hand. Their eyes meet again and she swears that she loses track of her sanity at that moment. She hopes Sergio isn’t a mind reader because if he was, she would want the ground to swallow her whole this instant.

She finds him so breathtakingly handsome that she feels her armpits start to sweat, and the fact that in a few minutes, he’ll be tattooing her and touching her, does nothing to calm her nerves. Sure, a tattoo would hurt, but being in the same room with the living proof of god’s wonders would prompt her to spontaneously combust at any given point in time. Just when she thought she was ready to get a tattoo, she wanted to back out and retreat because she never thought that she would be so attracted to her tattoo artist.

“It’s my pleasure. Okay, so as Martín tells me, I have the hour and a half free and you decided to walk in, correct?” He asks.

Sergio creates an air of security, trust, and confidence by the way he carries himself and talks to her. His voice sounds so pleasant to her ears that it makes her wonder what it would be like if they were in a situation preferably without clothes on, and she scolds herself for the thought to even enter her mind. He could read the phone book to her, and she would be so happy because he has a husky and soothing voice that just makes her melt.

She even entertains the idea of those hands wrapped around her neck but now is not the right time to think about that, and it instantly makes Raquel struggle to find words as she remembers that Sergio was asking her a question.

“Yeah.” She says, breathless from the marathon of impure thoughts running through her head concerning the person in front of him.

_God, he must think she’s so pathetic._

“Alright,” he says in a comforting tone that’s both commanding and caring. He offers her a seat on the couch of the reception area and he takes a seat on the Eames Chair positioned diagonally from her. Martín goes back to the reception counter to continue fixing their schedule.

She thanks the heavens that they’re sitting, because she can feel the heat between her legs and it’s probably getting too much for her to handle, so she crosses her legs and hopes that Sergio doesn’t notice. He looks so sexy sitting in that chair, and she feels her sanity fully jump out the window when she thinks of sitting on him instead. 

She was lost in her fantasies but Sergio’s velvety voice brings her back to earth.

“So, I don’t like tattooing politically incorrect and insensitive tattoos. There was a client that asked for a Nazi tattoo, and Marseille almost dragged him out of the studio.” He chuckles at the memory. His laugh even sounds magical and Raquel wants to record that laugh and play it on repeat. She smiles up at him to hide her growing desire for him.

“I also don’t do tattoos on genitals and other highly sensitive areas such as the mouth and the eyeballs. I’m not comfortable with that. Generally, I won’t do tattoos on places that I wouldn’t want on my own body. So if you’re good with my terms, I’m sure we’ll have a wonderful time together.”

Raquel nods in response, not being able to utter a single word because she’s afraid that if she opens her mouth, her thoughts would come right out and Sergio would find her creepy, and she definitely didn’t want to scare him off. Not when they would regularly see each other since their shops are just across the street from each other.

_Jesus, get it together, Raquel._

She peeps out a small “Yeah. I’m good with that.” to Sergio.

“Great. Do you have a sketch or a piece in mind?”

She fishes out the crumpled receipt that she showed Martín earlier and hands it to Sergio, their fingers briefly touching and it sends electricity to run through Raquel. _How can someone this attractive exist?_

He looks at the drawing on the paper, a drawing of a flower, and Raquel looks at him as his face slowly breaks into a smile.

“Well this should be fairly easy. Would you mind if I made some changes to it?” He shyly asks.

At the mention of modifications, Martín whips his head up from the counter and sees the two deep in conversation. _Sergio never voluntarily asks to modify a client’s design. He charges extra for that._

Sergio gets up from his chair and makes his way to the reception counter. He grabs a pencil and a stack of sticky notes. Martín looks at him, smirks and thinks _oh, Andres, what a pity you’re not here to witness a monumental moment of Sergio’s non-existent love life._ He quietly laughs to himself and focuses his attention back to the spreadsheet that keeps track of Resistencia’s finances.

Sergio sits down again and leans over the coffee table. Raquel is stunned at how close he is. She can smell his scent from where she’s sitting and it makes her dizzy with want and arousal. Her mind is reeling with infinite possibilities. _No, he is your shop neighbor, it’d be awkward if you accidentally see each other on the street and not say hi. Good god, get a grip, girl._

He starts sketching on the sticky note, with the crumpled receipt beside it. Raquel observes him as he purses his lips as he sketches. She can’t help staring at his lips, and how it looks so soft in contrast to his beard. She wonders what it must feel like pressed against hers, while she gently plays with the hairs on the back of his neck. She shivers at the image she paints in her head. 

She mentally takes note of how his brow furrows when he gets an angle wrong and erases it with the other end of the pencil. She engraves it in her mind how his toned arms move with his hand as it fluidly draws her tattoo, _her design_ , onto the piece of paper. She’s knocked off her daydream when Sergio leans back and gives her the sticky note containing his sketch.

On the paper was a simpler version of her drawing. It was still a flower, but it was constructed by only a singular line. She is reminded of the ups and downs of her life with the strokes of the pencil, and the tattoo suddenly meant something more to her. All the elements were still there, but Sergio turned it into something more meaningful and something that she would want to show off. She can imagine it now and smirks as she thinks that she would look so hot.

 _It was beautiful._ She can’t wait to see it on her skin.

“Do you like it?” He asks, slightly biting down on his lip.

Raquel beams up at him and says “I love it. Thank you. This looks so much better than my doodle, this is so beautiful.”

“No problem. So, what size do you want it and where would you like to place it?”

“Hmmm, about 2-3 inches? and right here.” She points to the area on the side of her left rib, right underneath her armpit, near her heart.

Sergio makes a face that makes Raquel slightly panic with her decision on the placement.

“It should be doable but, I’m going to warn you, it’s going to hurt because the skin is thin in that area so just be prepared.”

Raquel nods, fully trusting his opinion. He scribbles down a figure on another sticky note and passes it to Raquel.

“Our services would cost this much. You can take however much time you want and just ring up Martín if you want to go through with it.”

“No, I want to do it now.” She says in a rush, surprising both Sergio and Martín. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, you’re booked for the next eight months according to Martín. Besides, I promised myself this time last year that if I still wanted to get a tattoo a year from now, I would get it. Here I am.” She huffs out in one breath, relieved that she got that out. When she looks up, Martín is smiling at her, pleased with her determination.

“Well, isn’t today your lucky day then,” Sergio says and points his hand to the direction of the hallway to his area.

“Shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peonies represent good luck and new beginnings.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Find me on twitter: @steponmenajwa


	2. Coral Roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sergio is an artist and Raquel is his canvas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hola! I'm back. Enjoy :)

Sergio leads Raquel down the hallway to his part of the studio. Raquel notices that there are five rooms, three on the left, two on the right; each door having a cork board hanging in the middle. 

At the end of the hallway was what she presumes to be Sergio’s room since the door was left open, and opposite it was a communal area for coffee, snacks, and tattoo supplies and spare equipment. Her eyes briefly scan the cork board hanging on Sergio’s door. It has various sticky notes of reminders and a picture of two men, one of which was Sergio smiling with his arms crossed, and the other guy had an arm around him, standing in front of the tattoo studio.

Her mouth waters as her eyes follow the shape of Sergio’s arms in the picture. He’s not bulky, but he’s toned. Lean but not too macho. _Just the way she likes it._

Sergio clears his throat and motions for her to get inside the room.

Raquel steps inside the room and she can feel Sergio’s presence behind her. She looks around and she is greeted with her reflection on all four walls of the room.

_Great. Now she won’t be able to sneak glances at him without being caught._

One of the mirrored walls displays Sergio’s artworks. Most of his works are point and line heavy. It astonished Raquel because pointillism takes a lot of time, patience, and effort, and she glances at Sergio and she thinks it makes sense that he’s so sought after. His medium of choice being pen and paper makes Raquel wonder what else those hands could do.

On the right side of the room was the tattoo chair and a lamp similar to the one in the reception area. A desk is placed on the other wall which has a laptop and a thermos on top and opposite it was a huge Chesterfield Sofa that even Raquel was in awe of how glamorous it looks. _Sergio has taste._ She’ll give him that. 

"Make yourself comfortable. I’ll get you some snacks and water just in case you haven’t eaten yet. We don’t want you to pass out do we?” He chuckles.

“I could pass out?”

“I’ve had some pass out on me, that’s why we added a pantry across my room.”

“Oh. It’s okay, I’ve had worse.” referring to her nipple piercings, but she wasn’t ready to divulge that information to him.

“Alright then.” He sends her a small smile and closes the door behind him.

Raquel is left alone in Sergio’s room. She takes a seat on the Chesterfield sofa, which to her surprise, was really comfortable. She notices that there are several paper animals on his desk. She stood up and took one in her hands, marveled at the precision it took to fold such intricate shapes.

Suddenly, an image of Sergio folding paper in his hands while sitting down on the Chesterfield Sofa enters her head and she thinks that it’s hopeless; she really was attracted to him.

 _When was the last time she even desired someone?_ She doesn’t remember. She wasn’t really the type to hook up, when she’s had boyfriend after boyfriend her whole life. She supposes that the fire dies down between her and her lovers as time goes by, but she has never wanted to hook up with someone this much. 

She erases the thought in her head when she hears the latch of the door unlock and Sergio comes in holding up two pieces of paper in the air. She set the folded paper figurine she was holding back in its place.

“Which one do you like better?” He said.

Raquel stares at the two stencils, her head angled as she evaluates which one would look better, but her eyes quickly went to Sergio. _Now, that one looks stunning._

“Maybe we can put the stencil on you so you can visualize it better.”

She turns around and lifts her shirt over her head. She forgot that the room was filled with mirrors, and her eyes met Sergio’s in the reflection. _He was totally checking her out._

He averts his gaze with lightning speed. She can’t help smirking when she catches him. She feels proud of herself for still having this effect on people. The little Raquel inside her mind was jumping in joy and screaming at her _You go girl! You still got it!_ Which adds a boost of confidence to her ego.

She takes a deep breath and turns around to face Sergio.

“I’m ready.”

He turns around as well and gestures for Raquel to lie down on the tattoo chair, which is now reclined to resemble a bed. She keeps her eyes on him as she lies down and it doesn’t escape her attention that Sergio gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat and she wonders how it would feel to run her tongue on his throat.

He maneuvers her to how he would tattoo her, her back to him and her arms in front of her. Their eyes meet in the mirror and she feels her heartbeat quicken.

He laid the stencil on the side of her rib with the gentlest of touches and it sent shivers down her spine. He positions the stencil in what he thinks would look best on her.

“This size looks better than the other one for me.” He said.

Raquel sits up and looks at the positioning of the tattoo. Now that she can visualize what it’s going to actually look like, she feels proud of herself for coming a long way and finally getting the courage to do this. It feels like she’s already achieved a milestone, but she represses that feeling in fear of slipping up. It’s always been a recurring pattern in her life that horrible things happen to her just when she becomes happy, so she represses the thought and just enjoys the moment.

“It’s perfect!”

She twists her body to see the tattoo from multiple angles. Sergio starts to gather his tools, and Raquel looks at him through the reflection in the mirror as he starts to put black gloves over his hands.

“Will it hurt bad?” She asks.

“You just chose one of the most painful places to get tattooed, Raquel.”

She looks up at him in horror and disbelief. She starts to sweat in panic and somehow, he senses her discomfort immediately.

“It’s going to be okay though! I got you, don’t worry. You have a nose piercing, you’ll be fine.” He winks at her and it makes her heart speed up faster than before. She is sure that that wink was going to be the cause of her fainting. Was he flirting with her? She might still “got it” but she didn’t know how to read the signs from other people. She is so clueless when it comes to other people’s advances towards her so she and the little Raquel in her head had an internal argument when Sergio asks her to lay down again, disrupting her train of thought. 

She meets his gaze again through the reflection and somehow, Sergio’s shy smile calms her down.

“Ready?” He said.

When he was met with no reply, he pats her shoulder and reassures her that she’ll be fine, next thing she’ll know, it’s over.

With that, Sergio starts to ink her skin, leaving strokes of pure art and talent on its surface. She hisses as the needle meets the delicate flesh and she is sure Sergio was looking at her when she bit her lip from the pain. Sooner or later, she gets used to the sensation, and she thinks it wasn’t as painful as she thought, as long as Sergio kept going. He would stop at times to wipe off the excess ink, and her mind wasn’t able to catch up so quickly that the pain started to get to her, which makes her grip the edge of the cushioned chair.

“Are you okay?” Sergio lifts the needle from her skin and asks with worry.

“I’m fine, I guess.”

“Is this your first time?”

“To get a tattoo? Yeah.”

“I thought so. You were gripping the seat so hard, your knuckles were turning white. Would you like some water?”

“Yes please.”

Sergio sets his tools down and goes to the pantry to get Raquel a glass of water. She tries not to stare at his ass with all her might, but she manages to get a glimpse of it just before he closes the door. 

Raquel sits up and admires the tattoo that Sergio etched on her skin. It was halfway through and it was already looking so beautiful, despite the surrounding area being red as a tomato. Somehow, her confidence skyrockets and she starts to admire herself. She fluffs up her hair and throws a pout at her reflection.

Suddenly, the door opens and Sergio comes in with two glasses of water, presumably one of both of them. He hands one to Raquel and she gulps it down to quench her thirst, but she knows that water isn’t the thing she needs to quench her _thirst._

“You were fidgeting so much. I was worried that I would mess up the lines and end up disappointing you or something.” He confesses.

“It was painful! I don’t know how to control the fidgeting.”

He smiles and says, “It’ll be over before you know it!” He gestures for her to lie down again and she obeys.

He put his gloves back on and positioned his hands over her waist. He looked at her through the mirror with a gaze that made Raquel clench her thighs together.

“Be a good girl and try not to fidget so much, okay?”

She holds his gaze through the reflection and she is so intoxicated by the way his eyes peer through her soul, as if he knows that she wants him so bad. She stares up at him, wide-eyed with desire and lust. She’s so entranced by him that she wants nothing more than to obey his requests and please him.

She nods instead, not trusting her mouth to say anything less than “Yes, Daddy.”

Sergio rolls his sleeves up and resumes his work on her skin, and she takes the time to admire him through the mirror. She knows that he knows that she’s staring, but it’s not like she had anywhere else to look. It would be weird if she was looking at herself, and besides, he was a better view.

Sergio is so focused on his work, gently biting his lip in concentration and Raquel wants to gently coax it out with her own. Raquel finds it so endearing that a lock of hair was falling gently on his face and he didn’t bother to push it away. She feels the hand that wasn’t holding the tattoo gun readjust its position on her waist. It touches a particularly sensitive part of her skin and she breathes a little too deeply. She tries not to imagine those hands gliding up and down her back, making its way to her shoulder and neck. The thought of it sent goosebumps all over her body.

“Is it cold?” Sergio asks, breaking her out of her imagination.

“N-no, it’s okay. I’m okay.” She is not okay. She is sure that she was creating a mess between her legs

“Good. Wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable.” He whispers.

Sergio goes back to his canvas which was Raquel’s skin, his hands perched gently on her. She takes a few deep breaths, trying to still her beating heart and vagina. She feels his breath graze her neck and it took all of her strength to remain calm and not explode. _Sergio will be the death of her._

She closes her eyes, preferring not to see Sergio. The sound of the tattoo gun whirring eventually calms her and next thing she knew, they were done. Sergio leans back and admires his work, with a small smile on his face.

“See? That wasn’t so bad, Raquel.” God, hearing him say her name sent Raquel to another level of heaven, and she wasn’t going to complain; not when her thoughts were going to send her to hell.

Sergio hands her a mirror and crosses his arms. _His shoulders look so good when he crosses his arms._ Raquel takes the mirror from his hands and looks at the tattoo.

Raquel gasps, in awe of how beautiful it looks. She is reminded of the flowers she and her family planted every summer in their backyard when she was younger, the flowers that were given to her by lovers which eventually ended up in the trash, and how flowers are helping her rebuild herself and her life as she opened her own flower shop.

“It’s beautiful,” Her eyes met Sergio's. “Thank you.”

“It’s no problem, really. I’m glad.” He smiles and it made his dimples appear on his cheeks.

“Can you take a picture of it?”

“Sure.”

Just as Raquel was about to reach for her phone, he already took out his own and angled it in such a way that would highlight the minor details he added in the tattoo. He takes several shots and shows it to her.

“I’ll send it to you. What’s your number again?” He hands her his phone and she types out her number in it.

“Thanks.”

He bandages her tattoo up and instructs her on what she should and shouldn’t do. Raquel looks up at him intently as she processes the information, although she was more engrossed in staring at his lips than absorbing whatever he was telling her.

“Well, that’s about it. I’ll step out for a while to clean my stuff and dispose of these tissues. You can go back to Martin. He’ll know what to do.”

“Thanks again, Sergio.”

Sergio leaves her to get dressed and she is once again, alone with her thoughts. She admires herself in the mirror, with the tattoo as a new addition to her body. She takes a few pictures of herself, feeling every neuron in her body filled with confidence and a renewed energy flowing through her veins. If she knew that this was what getting a tattoo would feel like, she would’ve gotten over her fear and done it a few years back. Maybe this was why people said that getting a tattoo is a slippery slope. Once you have one, you’re going to want another.

She pulls the green sweatshirt over her head and winces when the fabric touches the sensitive area of skin where the tattoo was. She takes a few mirror selfies too, with Sergio’s artworks in the background. She fixes the mess that was her hair, and applies a little bit of lip gloss on her lips. She was feeling herself and it was about time that she did. Things were looking up, and she has to celebrate this small moment of victory in her freedom from toxic relationships.

She gathers up her things and opens the door, the sight of Sergio bopping his head to the music that was playing greeting her. A small smile involuntarily appears on her lips, and she goes to Martín at the reception area.

Martín isn’t alone when she gets there. He is accompanied by a lanky man with black, curly hair, whose laugh was so distinct that Raquel wanted to wear earplugs.

“Oh, you’re done!” Martín greets her.

“Yes, it was quite painful but I got through it!” Raquel says and throws a little fist pump in the air.

“That’s the spirit! Raquel, I want to introduce you to Daniel.” Martin points at him.

“Hola.” They both greet each other with a smile and a wave.

“He’s usually with me here to receive clients. He had to run errands a while ago, that’s why he wasn’t here when you came. Daniel, this is Raquel. She’s Sergio’s.”

“Another one? I’m still amazed at how many people want to get him as their artist. Tell me, Raquel, did he get your tattoo right? Did he have a heavy hand?” Daniel replies.

“Stop bombarding her with questions.” Martín softly slaps Daniel’s arm.

“Ow, that hurts. Don’t mess with my arms, I was working on them at the gym yesterday, it still stings.” Daniel turns to Raquel and says “I’m sorry. We _obviously_ value customer feedback, don’t we, Martin? Don’t listen to him”

Raquel laughs at the both of them. ¨He’s really talented. A great artist.”

Martín smirks at her and Daniel notices it, plans to talk to Martín about it when Raquel leaves. Raquel settles her payment with Martín and Daniel and leaves a tip on the tip jar, when Sergio emerges from the hallway. She stares into his brown eyes as he walks towards them.

“Thank you again. It’s really wonderful.” She tells him.

“My pleasure,” He flashes her a smile that reaches his eyes. _Can he get any more attractive?_

“Oh, Raquel, be back in two weeks. Just so we can see if it’s healing properly or if it needs a retouch. Don’t scratch it if it’s itchy okay?”

“Yes, I’ll be a good girl and follow your instructions.” She says in a sing-song voice, which surprises her too. Martín’s eyebrows shoot up on his forehead and Daniel smirks and thinks that he will definitely have to ask Sergio _what the hell is going on in here_ , all while mentally screaming that Raquel was openly flirting with Sergio.

“See you in two weeks then.”

“See you soon, querida!” Martín bids her goodbye.

“It was nice meeting you!” Daniel says.

She smiles at the three of them and waves goodbye. She opens the door of the tattoo studio and walks over to the other end of the street where her flower shop is going to open. She takes a deep breath, ridding herself of the nerves and the adrenaline of the events of the day. She feels the side of her torso ache from the stinging pain of the tattoo but she knows that it was worth it.

Raquel enters the flower shop and sees Monica painting the walls a duck egg blue shade. Her quaint flower shop has high ceilings and floor to ceiling windows which were adorned with intricate cornices that they recycled from the previous owner. The floors were parqueted and she is delighted by the sound of the bell at the top of the door and the abundance of light in their space. She can’t wait to see the store in full bloom and be surrounded by flowers.

They were set to open in two weeks or so. Everything was going smoothly, and the new delivery of the Coral Roses she ordered for a client were on top of the makeshift table at the center of the cluttered space. Paint splatters were everywhere because Monica tends to overload her brush with paint. Good thing that Raquel is prepared and set a drop sheet on the floor a week before to preserve the parqueted floors.

Monica turns to Raquel from her stand at the ladder, her head a few feet higher than Raquel.

“Oh, good you’re here. I thought you weren’t coming back from your break. Where have you been?”

“Mon, you’ll never guess what I did.” Raquel replies and blushes at the memory of Sergio’s gaze on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coral Roses represent desire.
> 
> find me on twitter: @steponmenajwa


	3. Lily of the Valley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sergio takes a walk to iron out some kinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive! It's been a tough month, but I am back! Enjoy and let me know who among those teasing Sergio is your favorite hahaha

As the bell above the door of Resistencia rings out its final notes, Sergio feels the air inside the studio change. He feels his smile fade as he fixes some papers on the reception counter. The lingering silence after Raquel left made him nervous and he doesn’t know why. Maybe it’s the queasiness in his stomach? Or that he wants to see her again? It surprises him that the thought even enters his head. _No personal affairs with clients_ was one of the rules that he imposed when he and Andres started the studio. With that, he quickly pushes the thought of wanting to see her again to the back of his consciousness, but it doesn’t quite stop his heart from beating quickly at the thought of seeing her again.

He is suddenly much more aware of the air of scrutiny around him, and in order to evade the impending self-doubt and questioning, he pretends to be looking for a spare pencil. He starts going through the small cabinets underneath the desk, under piles of paperwork, under the sofa pillows, when he feels Daniel and Martin’s stare. He’s caught. _Again._

Knowing Martín and Daniel, they will inevitably start asking questions he doesn’t know the answers to, so he tries his hardest to avoid their gaze. 

They’ve all been friends for so long that Martín and Daniel know Sergio’s tell-tale signs: a hand through his hair when he’s stressed, pushes his glasses back when he’s nervous, stares into oblivion when he’s exploring possibilities, presses that spot in his palm when he’s confident; but this, _this,_ is their favorite because they’ve only seen it a few times in the span of their friendship.

“Interesting day today, no, Sergio?” Daniel starts, wiggling his eyebrows at him. Daniel leans against the counter and places his chin on his hands. Sergio pretends not to see the deadly combination of Daniel’s body language. In Sergio’s head, it all screams “Warning!” in red flashing lights.

“Yeah, it’s so unfortunate that the other client cancelled on us three times already.” He shrugs and keeps looking around the desk for a pencil. Where do they keep it anyway? “Have we ran out of pencils already? I know I just bought a box of them last week.”

“What about that other client? That wasn’t so unfortunate no?”

Sergio doesn’t miss Daniel’s insinuating tone. He feels warm blood rush to his cheeks at the mention of Raquel. _Why is this happening? Get a grip._ Sergio is so confused that his body was betraying him. He takes a deep breath and wills his cheeks to stop blushing.

Martin, amused by the interaction, elbows Daniel and lightly smacks his arm, while Sergio is still pretending to look for pencils.

“I swear, I just bought a box last week, and those were my favorite pencils.” Sergio muses.

“Sergio, you’re already holding one.”

Sergio looks at his hand and realizes, “Oh, it’s just right here. I might need to get new glasses.”

Martin leans forward, puts his face in his hands, and squints at Sergio.

“You know, Sergio, it’s usually me and Daniel who patches them up after you stick them with the pointy end of the tiny needles.” Martin says and slowly, his brows rise on his forehead and a small smirk appears on his lips.

Sergio stares at him dumbfounded, not understanding what Martín is trying to say. He raises one eyebrow and a million thoughts already run through his head at what discussion could probably happen within the next five minutes.

“What? Am I not allowed to patch them up every once in a while?”

Martin and Daniel didn’t even need words to make Sergio cave. They just crossed their arms, pursed their lips, and raised their brows as if to say _Really, Sergio?_

“I-Yo-You should have seen her, she was so terrified!” And with that, Martín and Daniel burst out laughing at Sergio. They oh so loved pushing his buttons. If only Andres were here, Sergio would never hear the end of it.

“I was so worried I would end up messing up her first tattoo!” Martín and Daniel tried so hard to keep their giggling to a minimum. Just as Sergio thought that he was able to suppress his cheeks warming up, he just blushes even harder and he thinks it’s pointless to calm himself down from the incessant teasing of his friends.

Sergio knows he’s fucked when Martín suddenly smirks and he knows that it’s the smirk that Martin pulls when he’s trying to get something, a reaction or a confession, out of him. Sergio looks everywhere but Martin’s face. He’s not ready to face the _look._

“So you had to comfort her by telling her to be a good girl huh?”

Silence engulfs the tattoo studio as the three men stare at each other. Sergio, blushing so bad he fears that his head will burst. Daniel, his mouth hanging open, not being able to comprehend Martin’s statement. Martin, still smirking. Sergio wanted so bad to wipe that smirk off his face, but the thought completely goes out of his head as he realizes that he really did tell her to be a _good girl._

To him, it was nothing. He was used to dealing with clients who were worse than Raquel, but they were usually accompanied by a friend so he didn’t have to comfort them to _that_ extent. It dawns on him that to the unsuspecting ear, that particular phrase would bring an entirely different connotation. He shudders in horror of what Martín might think of him now, especially that no personal relationships with clients is a rule in the studio that is heavily enforced by no other person than himself.

“Sergio said that? _Our_ Sergio?” Daniel says in shock and astonishment. He really couldn’t believe that Sergio, of all people, would break his own rule on not hitting on clients. _It’s too good to be true,_ Daniel thinks.

“Por favor, I didn’t mean it like that! And you know it!” Sergio feels so ashamed and he thinks that he probably scared her off. _Is that why it felt like she was walking on eggshells around me the whole time I was tattooing her?_ He feels dizzy at the thought.

“Well then why are you so worked up?” Now, Daniel was in on the joke, and accompanies Martín in riling up Sergio. Their laughter echoes across the walls and Sergio wants to be swallowed whole by the ground.

“I-”

“It’s fine, Sergio, we were just teasing you.” Martín says as he wipes tears from his eyes. “God, I can’t wait to tell Andres all about this.”

“And Alicia too!” says Daniel.

“Please don’t tell Andres about this! Especially not Alicia! They are never going to stop teasing me about it, although let’s be honest between the two of you, you will most likely be doing the teasing, and him with the life lessons. I’m not ready to have to cut my ear off for that, and besides, it’s not like I like her like that.” 

“But Raquel really is pretty, no?” Daniel says.

“I won’t deny that she’s-”

“She looks like your type.” Daniel says.

“I have a type?”

“Did you get her number?”

Martin pats and squeezes Sergio’s shoulder as an offering of support. He has to take on the big brother role whenever Andres is not around. Even though he knows that Sergio is old enough to take care of himself, he makes it his duty to look out for him, as manager/customer care hotline/personal assistant of the tattoo studio and as his soon-to-be brother-in-law, if he finds the time to propose to Andres that is. He knows which buttons to push with Sergio, but he also knows when to stop.

“Take it easy, hermanito. It’s just a joke, but yes you do have a type.” Martín shoves Sergio out the door. “And go take your walk already! Lord knows you have a lot to think about after that session. Iron out some _kinks_.” He says with a wink.

Sergio just laughs at them, not getting why he needs to iron something, completely oblivious to Martín’s comment, and waves them both goodbye. Sergio is already one foot out the door when he decides to play along.

“Oh, and Daniel?”

“Yes, get me a sandwich,” Daniel turns to Martín, “For the first time, I didn’t have to ask him! It’s a miracle.”

“I got her number!” Sergio all but whispers.

“YOU WHA-”

Sergio winks and immediately closes the door of Resistencia, the bell above the door clanging from too much enthusiasm, and heads to the neighborhood café.

* * *

Over the years of being an established tattoo artist, his mornings are often occupied with several appointments, all of which leave him quite restless by the end of the day if he doesn’t take a break. He found solace in walking through the streets of the neighborhood.

The neighborhood around Resistencia is peaceful, not as quiet as the neighborhood not so far from here that he grew up in, but enough to make the presence of its people known. After all, it was Madrid, a city bursting with life and opportunities. He’s lived here his whole life and he could never imagine a day where he would part from the city. His parents, before they passed away a few years back, always encouraged him and Andres to explore what the city has to offer. “I’m bored” was a forbidden expression in their household when Sergio and Andres were children; always being encouraged by their parents to create or learn something, despite their lack of financial capabilities. This resulted in Andres being one of the most sought-after curators in the world, and Sergio, a successful tattoo artist. He feels alive in Madrid and Madrid lives in him.

There is a park nearby where Sergio runs every morning, and with it comes a picturesque view of the sky when the sun sets and rises. Sergio never takes for granted that he gets to experience abundant greenery even though living smack dab in the middle of the city. It was a prime spot for a balance between life and work, and he feels that he will never get tired of uncovering its hidden gems and mysteries. Among one of his favorite discoveries was Hanoi.

He discovered Hanoi from one of his morning runs when he first moved to the studio apartment above Resistencia. From the outside, Hanoi looked like a photo booth. It was so discreetly nestled between a tailor shop and a thrift shop, that the normal passerby wouldn’t assume that it was something else inside. The ever-curious Sergio took a look inside, thinking “ _Who would put a photo booth in an area like this in Madrid?”_ and discovered that when he accidentally leaned on the wall inside the photo booth, it would lead him inside a quaint, hole-in-the-wall café called Hanoi.

It was owned by a lovely couple, Esperanza and Antonio, who were still smitten with each other even after 35 years of marriage. They didn’t have children of their own, so it didn’t surprise Sergio when he became a regular at their shop that they treated him like a son when they found out that Sergio lived alone. They always offered him a seat at their dining table in exchange for Sergio’s tattoo horror stories.

“Hola!” Sergio greets Esperanza when he enters Hanoi. His eyes scan the place, looking at the selection of baked goods and drinking in the smell of coffee wafting in the air. The place wasn’t occupied much during this time of the day, just two people on the far end of the café, which isn’t really visible from the counter. Sergio likes that only a handful of people know about the existence of the place, preferring to keep it a secret from the gang where he gets his mid-day snacks.

“Hola, Sergio! Take a seat! Just coffee right? Did Daniel want a sandwich again?” Esperanza asks him.

“Yes and yes.” He nods and chuckles as he takes a seat at the bar. 

“He still hasn’t figured out where Hanoi is?”

“Not at all. Although, I think Alicia has already figured it out. She just prefers tea and told everybody in the studio why bother finding it when I buy it for them anyway.” He smiles as he remembers the day Alicia found out Hanoi’s location. In solidarity for Sergio and his introverted ways, she decided to keep the location of the hole-in-the-wall a secret from everybody else.

Esperanza just laughs at Sergio and rolls her eyes. “It’s not that hard to find if they just look closely.” and she goes about her merry way to prepare Sergio’s snacks.

As he patiently waits for Esperanza, he opens his phone and scrolls through his calendar, email, and messages. Everything was still the same as before, nothing new. As himself, he has never been a fan of social media, preferring to live in the moment. As an owner of a tattoo studio though, he knows that having a social media presence would greatly help get the word out. 

He was scrolling through his Instagram feed, saw several pictures of old friends, and a video posted by Andres in the monastery in Italy being surrounded by goats. Sergio double taps on the screen and comments “ _come back already! I’m tired of Martín pining for you_ ” under the photo.

Andres sends him a message containing a picture of the goats smiling happily on his lap.

_They miss you, hermanito._

_Tell the goats that I miss them too._

_But seriously come back soon, we’re short staffed_

_and I don’t know when Alicia’s coming back._

_Isn’t she here in Italy too?_

_Also, don’t you miss me??_

_I have no idea where she went._

_Of course, I don’t. Not as much as Martín, anyway._

_You know what they say, distance makes_

_the heart grow fonder._

_I wouldn’t know._

_Speaking of, Martín told me he has exclusive_

_Sergio content today._

_Mind sharing??_

_It’s nothing. You know him, everything is exclusive_

_content when it comes to me because nothing ever happens._

_So there MUST be something, then._

_I’ll be back in three weeks!! Don’t miss me too much._

Suddenly, a notification pops up from his phone: _raquel.murillo tagged you in a photo; raquel.murillo started following you._

Speak of the devil.

He feels his heart flutter, and an unexpected gush of adrenaline runs through his veins. He puts his phone down on the counter, and tries to regulate his breathing. _What is happening? She just followed you for Christ’s sake._

He picks up his phone again and clicks on the notification. On the picture was Raquel leaning her arms on a table full of flowers, wearing a white silk camisole that exposes her new tattoo, and those jeans that make Sergio want to start thanking the gods above everyday.

 **raquel.murillo** _it’s so beautiful, thank you so much @la.resistencia <3_

Sergio can’t stop staring, at the picture, or her, or her ass, he doesn’t know. But what he does know is that he finds her so attractive that he doesn’t regret patching her up after the tattoo session a while ago, but he will never admit it out loud.

He double taps the picture that she posted and clicks on her profile. He smiles when he sees Raquel’s profile picture of her with a cat. He finds it so cute; finds _her_ cute.

**Raquel Murillo**

_Florist at Loreak_ _• Madrid_

_Oh, she’s a florist. How interesting. Now it makes sense why she wanted a tattoo of a flower._

His curiosity got the best of him and he started to scroll down her feed. There weren’t many pictures, really. It was mostly of her and her flower arrangements, and detailed descriptions of how the bouquets came to be. He doesn’t know much about flowers, but he knows how tedious the process could be. He sees a picture of Raquel in the flower festival in Amsterdam, sporting a grin so wide that it almost reaches her ears.

He zooms in on the picture, and notices how in the sunlight her eyes are a different shade of brown as compared to what he saw in the tattoo studio earlier. He scrolls even further down and he sees a picture of Raquel in a field of sunflowers behind the Van Gogh Museum, and another in a field of tulips. She looks magnificent in every picture and once again, he is amazed that such beauty exists in the world for him to see. 

Sergio chokes on his own spit when one picture catches his eye.

He could never wrap his mind around the duality of how Raquel could look so heavenly and so sinful at the same time.

It was Raquel in a club somewhere downtown Madrid, wearing a little black dress that leaves little to the imagination. There was something about the way her hair falls in gorgeous waves around her face, and stockings that make Sergio want to run his tongue—

“That’s a pretty woman you have there, Sergio.”

Sergio hurries to hide his phone from Antonio, that he accidentally drops his phone. In his haste to catch it, he doesn’t notice that his fingers tapped the screen on Raquel’s picture from way before.

“Hmm?” He says as he looks up at Antonio, praying that he doesn’t get a glimpse of his impure thoughts through his eyes. Sergio hopes that the eyes really aren’t windows to the soul because if it is, he’s screwed.

“A girlfriend?” Antonio teases.

“What?”

“Sergio has a girlfriend??” Esperanza shouts from the kitchen.

“I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“A lady friend then?” Sergio rolls his eyes at Antonio’s smirk.

“No, she’s a client at the studio. I was just looking respectfully.”

“Mhmmm. Sure, let’s go with that.” Antonio replies with a wink and goes behind the counter. Sergio sees Antonio still smirking at him from behind the glass as he packs up a cronut for Sergio. He scoffs at Antonio’s antics and turns his attention back to his phone.

Sergio breathes out a sigh of relief when he sees that his phone screen didn’t crack from the fall. To be honest, he was more worried that Antonio saw right through him. Was he really that obvious?

“Here you go, Sergio.” Esperanza hands him his coffee and the sandwich that Daniel asked for.

“Thank you so much, Esperanza.” He smiles at her and pays for the food, forever grateful for their hospitality.

“No problem, hijo!” She pinches his cheek “I would love to meet your girlfriend soon!”

“For the last time, she’s not my girlfriend, she’s a client.”

“Sure!” Esperanza just smiles at him, a pregnant pause and a staring contest between them, neither saying a word, the couple just waiting for Sergio to crack.

“Okay, she’s pretty, okay? But she’s not my girlfriend. If I wanted to have a girlfriend, I could go out and get myself one, because I am single, but I don’t want one, but she really is pretty, but she’s my client ugh I’m just gonna go.” He points to the direction of the exit. He rushes towards the door and says “See you at dinner sometime this week! Hasta luego!” and heads out.

“Ah, young love.” The couple smiles at each other as they watch Sergio go back to the studio, remembering their younger days.

* * *

As Sergio walks back to the tattoo studio, he breathes in the fresh air that the trees around him provide. It’s just what he needs to process everything that happened that day, from Raquel to Hanoi. 

He still can’t believe that he had the guts to call her a good girl. Old Sergio would have never had the guts to openly flirt with anyone, much less show that he was attracted to anyone; So, all these people calling him out for it, really took him by surprise.

It suddenly dawns on him what Martín meant when he said to iron out some kinks. He stops walking in the middle of the park and sits down on a bench. He pulls out his phone and makes a quick Google Search on kinks. His brows inch closer together the further he goes into the results, and he shudders when he pulls up the images tab of the site. _Did Martín discreetly classify him as kinky?_

He takes a sip of his coffee, without milk and a reasonable amount of sugar, and basks in the comfort the beverage brings. He replays the whole tattoo session with Raquel and he got the sense that she was openly flirting back. _Well, if he is what Martín says he is, Raquel seemed to enjoy it._

He mentally slaps himself. He has to stop thinking of Raquel like that. _She_ ’s _a client, not a prospective fuck buddy. Quit it._

But there is also a miniscule part in his brain that gives him a high-five, telling himself “good job” for still having decent flirting skills. He’s still got it, he thinks, but he would never admit it out loud.

Somehow, the smell of the coffee and the fresh air calms him down significantly from his revelations and his word vomit at Hanoi a while ago. At the same time, he feels like he’s been shocked and a live wire was running through his body. He welcomes the feeling, and it adds a spring in his step and a renewed sense of confidence in him. _Maybe acknowledging that he can still find someone attractive after a long time isn’t such a bad thing, but of course, he would never admit it out loud._

“Mama, why is that man smiling to himself?” he overhears a child say to his mother. Sergio immediately presses his lips into a thin line, embarrassed that people were thinking crazy of him, and makes a beeline for the studio.

* * *

Sergio doesn’t notice it, but the next weeks pass by him quickly. Perhaps it’s the endless tattoo appointments at the studio or him trying to take his mind off of Raquel when he’s bored that he doesn’t notice time passing by.

It’s the same routine everyday: go out to jog at the park, eat breakfast while scrolling through Instagram hoping to come across a photo of Raquel, pretend not to be attracted to her, tattoo appointments, Hanoi, another round of tattoo appointments, sleep, and repeat.

He chose to take another route back to the studio one afternoon, munching on a croissant from Hanoi which left too many crumbs on his black shirt, when he rounded up on the other corner of the street of Resistencia. What used to be an old and abandoned corner shop has apparently been leased and now being renovated. There was construction work being done inside the shop so he decided not to greet and bother their future neighbors. _Greeting your future neighbors and welcoming them in the neighborhood is a thing right? Just being polite._ He thinks. Maybe he’ll come over when the shop is fully operating.

“Martín!” Sergio greets him as he enters the tattoo studio.

“Eh?” Martín says, not looking up from his laptop, probably balancing some sheets while spinning a pencil between his fingers, deep in thought.

“We have new neighbors?”

“What do you mean?”

“The old one.”

“You have to be more specific, cariño.”

“The one in the corner, I mean. The one that Andres has been eyeing because of the huge windows?”

“Ah. That one! I was just there a while ago. Apparently, it’s a flower shop. You’ll never guess who owns it.” Martín smiles mischievously at Sergio.

“Who?”

At that moment, the bell above the door chimes, and in walks the woman who has been occupying Sergio’s mind for the past two weeks.

“Hi. I’m back for the check up?”

_Speak of the devil, indeed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lily of the Valley represent the return of happiness; don't touch these though because they're poisonous.
> 
> See you next week!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Find me on twitter: @steponmenajwa

**Author's Note:**

> Peonies represent good luck and new beginnings.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Find me on twitter: @steponmenajwa


End file.
